[Ryus]

Originally Posted by Zek

So...

Spoiler:

Why does having a philosopher's stone automatically make you Emperor of Xing? I thought the current emperor just wanted it so he himself could be immortal, which is impossible anyway?

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Quick sum up...

By giving an old man hope before he died he became the favored heir to the throne... so when the Emperor inevitably died next in line to the throne out of all the countless heirs was Ling Yao. In short there was no clear successor until Ling Yao gained favor with the emperor.

Age nor sex had anything to do with the right of succession in Xing. It was all about gaining clout with the Emperor... when you think about it every family/clan was likely telling the guy I'm the best choice and here is why when Ling comes back and says "why do you have to die?"... it's clear why he gained the throne Ling just stood out and offered him a chance at something almost every dying person secretly wants a chance to not die, or at the very least not having there final days consumed by fear and worry.

Now clearly this didn't give him the throne but it made it far easier to gain it after the Emperor died. Since during the time while the Emperor still lived Ling would gain power in the empire by giving his father what he wanted, the spend that power/influence to gain the throne.